late night confrontations
by cappuchoni
Summary: Jughead texts Toni asking her to meet him, and against her better judgement she does only to find out there was more to Jughead's decision to kick her out of the Serpents than she initially thought. Post 03x09 "No Exit"


**Jughead [7:23 PM]:** Meet me at 11:30pm behind Pop's near the edge of a Fox Forest. Come alone.

Toni had been thinking about that text message for hours. She currently laid in bed, eyes opened and focused on the ceiling. Her girlfriend was curled up next to her, fast asleep.

 _Come alone_.

She knew what Jughead had meant by that.

 _Don't tell Cheryl._

Careful to not wake the redhead besides her, Toni shifted to her side and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. She pressed the lock button and the screen came to life displaying the time. If she planned to meet Jughead she needed to get going.

It had been one week since he had kicked her out of the Serpents. Seven days of exile. Seven days of hell. Seven days without her _family_.

The pink haired girl had no idea what he wanted, and part of her didn't care. As far as she was concerned he didn't deserve any of her time anymore. Yet she was curious.

Begrudgingly, Toni got out of bed and pulled up her discarded jeans before slipping on her boots. She then slid open the nightstand drawer and fished around to find a spare piece of paper and a pen to leave Cheryl a note in case the redhead woke before she returned.

 _Gone for a ride. Be back soon. xo - T_

She placed the note on her pillow, ran her hand through her hair, and sighed. Toni prayed she wasn't making a mistake in going, but she couldn't ignore the part of her brain needing to hear what Jughead needed to say. He may be nothing to her now, but she still cared about the rest of the Serpents. She still considered them her family, even if the feeling was no longer returned.

When she arrived at Pop's Toni found Jughead sitting upon his bike next to the railroad tracks, just inside of the line dividing the North and Southsides. He raised his head at the sound of her motorcycle pulling up next to his.

"Hey, Toni," he said, giving her a sad smile.

"What do you want, Jones?" Her eyes were cold. Toni already felt regret building inside of her for coming here, even more so for doing it behind Cheryl's back.

He got off his bike and gestured for her to follow him. The pair walked down the tracks a ways until they were out of earshot of anyone loitering in parking lot of Pop's. When Jughead had decided they had walked far enough he turned to Toni and took a deep breath before beginning, "You belong in the Serpents, Toni."

Her eyes narrowed, "You don't think I _know_ that, Jughead? _You're_ the one who kicked _me_ out!"

"And now I'm trying to make it right," the boy claimed.

"Wait," she squinted in confusion, shaking her head slightly, "what?"

"Look, Fangs is going undercover with the Gargoyles to earn his skin back. I want to make you the same offer."

"Yeah, let me talk it over with Cheryl. I'll let you know tomorrow. I'm not sure she'll feel feel about having to go undercover." Toni felt an ounce of hope. There was a way for them to come back, to be Serpents again. She could have her family back.

"The offer doesn't extend to Cheryl, Toni."

And in an instant that hope was crushed. "Excuse me?"

"She should have never been allowed to join. Look what she caused. You got kicked out because of what _she_ did."

"You've got to be kidding me right now." She was taken aback. Toni knew, as well as Jughead, she was at just as much fault as Cheryl.

"She's not from the Southside. She _hated_ us Toni. It was a mistake making her a Serpent in the first place."

"You know damn well she's not really that person."

"It doesn't change the things she's done Toni. She's a loose canon. She's a Northsider," he admittedly argued. "She doesn't belong, and you know it."

"She belongs just as much as Betty does," Toni countered.

Jughead huffed, "It's not the same."

"How can you even say that with a straight face?"

"Betty has done nothing but help the Serpents from day one. She'd die for us."

"So would Cheryl! It doesn't matter who she was in the past. May I remind you that _you_ were pretty anti-Serpent when we first met too," she reminded him.

He huffed and shook his head.

"What do you have against her anyways? Because she fucked up your couples weekend last year? Because she challenges you? The fuck is your problem with her, Jones?"

"She doesn't listen. She has no respect for me _or_ the Serpents," he exploded at her.

"She has plenty of respect for the Serpents. She's not the one who bailed without word. And as for respecting _you_ , she's not the only one having issues with that."

"I can't have Serpents who won't obey the rules," he snapped.

"Then be a fucking leader, Jughead! You can't just go around kicking out anyone who challenges you! What were you just looking for a reason to get rid of her before this went down? Are you that insecure because she wont blindly go along with whatever ass backwards idea you come up with?"

He scoffed, "Do you want back in or not?"

"Not like this." Toni had spent every night since he exiled them thinking about just how much she wanted back into the Serpents. They had been her family her entire life, but she would not allow herself to be used as a pawn in Jughead's agenda against the girl she loved.

"Fangs will be all alone if you don't do this, Toni. Think about that," he told her, his voice overconfident as if he had won somehow.

She stared at him for a second before spatting, "Are you serious right now, Jones? You have the audacity to kick me out of the gang _my_ family founded, the tell me I'm only welcome back if it's _without_ my girlfriend, and now you're trying to what guilt me into it? Fuck you, Jughead."

"I'm trying to do whats best for everyone. What's best for the Serpents," he claimed. It was to Toni that on some level he he actually believed what he was saying as misguided as it was.

"No, you're trying to do whats best for you," Toni accused. "That's all you ever do. That's what you did when you ran off for months with Archie, and its what you're doing now. You have no idea how to lead. You're a child, and if you send Fangs in alone that's on you, not me." She turned to leave, not wanting to hear anymore of what Jughead had to say. Toni only had time to take a single step before he yelled after her.

"What are you going to do when she breaks your heart? Without the Serpents what are you going to do? Toni, just come home. Cheryl isn't your home. Me, Sweet Pea, Fangs. _We_ are your home," he roared. Anger and frustration coated his words.

Toni bawled her fists and clenched her teeth, trying to keep her composure. "Watch it."

"It's not like I could have just told you to break up with her," he barked.

She spun around, her fist clenched, and swung. Toni heard the bones in Jughead's nose shatter on impact.

"Go to hell, Jones," she hissed.

Jughead was bent over in pain, his hands around his face, clutching his broken nose. She felt no pity for him, only rage. He was lucky she didn't do more to him after the things he had been saying. Toni felt a vibration come from her pants pocket signaling a text. She grabbed her phone and quickly unlocked it.

 **Cher 3 [11:47]:** Will you be home soon?

 **Toni [11:47]:** Yeah babe on my way now

 **Toni [11:47]:** Go back to sleep

 **Toni [11:48]:** I love you

 **Cher 3 [11:48]:** I love you too TT

When Toni returned home she tried her best not to disturb her sleeping girlfriend. She dropped her bag next to the closet and walked over to the bed. She accidentally bumped on the corner of her nightstand, causing the lamp on top of it to shutter sightly. Toni gripped it tightly, hoping the noise wasn't enough to wake Cheryl. She glanced towards the bed and, to her dismay she saw the redhead stirring.

"TT?" Cheryl asked, her voice groggy.

"Shh, babe, go back to sleep."

Cheryl yawned and rubbed her eyes, attempting to wake up. "You went for a drive?"

"Yeah, I went for a drive. Sorry I woke you up." Toni went to grab the paper from her pillow and throw it out.

The redhead's eyes grew wide as she saw the blood staining Toni's skin. "Toni, is that blood? Are you okay?"

"It's not mine," she averted shamefully. She walked into bathroom and tossed the crumpled note into the trash bin by the door before scrubbing Jughead's dried blood from hew knuckles. When she returned Cheryl was sitting cross legged on the bed waiting for her.

"So who does it belong do?"

"Jughead. He texted me to meet him. I'm sorry; I should have told you." Toni exhaled deeply. She had hoped Cheryl would have stayed asleep when she got back in order to avoid this very conversation.

"Did he suffer?"

Toni nodded and stifled a laugh, "Broke his nose actually."

"Good." Cheryl paused for a moment before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now," she answered as she kicked off her boots. "I don't want to get you upset too."

That had gotten Cheryl's attention, "TT, what happed?"

Toni shrugged as she unfastened her jeans and pushed them down her legs before stepping out of them completely. She was at a loss as to how approach this with her girlfriend. After all, Jughead's entire reasoning behind kicking her out of the Serpents was because of the girl currently watching her with wide, expectant eyes. "Cher… I… _fuck_." Toni threw herself onto the bed next to Cheryl. Her face burrowed into her pillow, still not allowing herself to meet her girlfriend's eyes.

Cheryl laid back down next to Toni, propping herself up on her elbow. She used her free hand to gently rub up and down her girlfriend's back, "Please tell me?"

"Jughead kicked us out because of you," she said quickly, part of her hoping Cheryl didn't register what she had said.

"He _what_?"

Toni repositioned herself until she was looking at Cheryl. "He um… I think he had been looking for a reason. If it hadn't been that egg, it would have been something else. Tonight he asked me to come back, to go undercover with Fangs, and earn my place back. I told him I'd need to talk to you about it, and he said the offer didn't extend to you."

"That fucking hobo," Cheryl's voice cracked.

"That isn't even all of it," the pink haired girl sighed. "He… fuck… he basically told me I should break up with you."

"Oh."

Toni could see the tears beginning to form in Cheryl's eyes and reached to grab her girlfriend's hand."That's when I punched him. Because while I want to be a Serpent again, it won't be like that. It won't be under the sad excuse for leadership of someone like him."

"If you can be a Serpent again you shouldn't stop yourself because of me," Cheryl said, her voice sounding defeated. "It's not fair for me to hold you back from that. It's your legacy."

"Not at the expense of you."

"But," Cheryl started to say. She knew how much the Serpents meant to Toni. They meant a lot to her too, even though she hadn't been one but for a few months. But for Toni, the Serpents had been her entire _life_.

Toni stopped her, "No, babe. I'll be a Serpent again, don't worry. I'm not going to do it by playing his game though."

"You're sure?"

Toni squeezed Cheryl's hand, "You love me?"

"More than anything," the redhead replied honestly. Sometimes it scared her at how much she loved Toni, how lost she'd be without her.

"Then I'm sure. We're in this together."

"Together," Cheryl echoed.

"Plus if he's kicking everyone who challenges him out it won't be long before he loses control over the Serpents completely. Someone else will be put in charge. Someone who isn't blinded by personal vendettas. We'll be back. At some point things will be right again."

"I trust you, TT," Cheryl leaned closer. Toni rolled onto her back and reached out her arm for Cheryl to curl into her shoulder. "I wish I could have seen you break Jughead's nose."

Toni laughed and pressed a gentle kiss to Cheryl's forehead, "Trust me, babe, that part was awesome."


End file.
